Could you elaborate?

>A few observations/comments..
>
>First off, I was not the "guru" who reviewed the message. That rumor, that has already started, can be put to bed right now.
>
>Second, while a very eloquent and polite letter, Mr Luter in no way recants anything from the letter. For this, he has my respect. He merely clarifies what the intent was. FWIW, I thought the intent was fairly clear. They are a company who offers a specific service that deals with upgrading aging Fox apps with SQL-Server. Had I been the "guru" that had reviewed the letter, I certainly would have fore-warned the author about the multitude of whiners and complainers the VFP community is replete with. That said, I too would have blessed the letter as-is. It has a clear message. And IMO, it in no way offends any particular group. Then again, we are continually surrounded by the hyper-sensitive. Say the slightest negative thing about Fox, and folks will contemplate filing a slander/libel complaint against you...
>
>I am interested in where they procured their list. I did not get this mailing.
>
>I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Mr. Luter was crafting this response. If it had been me, it would have taken every ounce of restraint to not go off about how whiny and hyper-sensitive folks are. To accuse this company of trying to put "hard-working Fox developers out of business" is completely off base.
>
>
>A statement to those listening:
>
>It is high time that many in this community get a reality grip.
>
>Remember folks, you are NOT your developer tool. The next time you get tourqed up when somebody slights Fox, ask yourself why you get peeved. My advice is to deal with it in a constructive manner. Either ignore it or take responsibility for your career and do what is necessary to ween your dependency from Fox. Don't blame others for the situation you find yourself. If you are a happy person doing what you are doing, then ignore what other's write. If you are peeved because deep down, you feel there is an air of truth to what is being said, do something about it. Broaden your skill set. Take responsibility for your career. Don't waste time trying to modify the behavior of others. It won't work. Even Mr. Luter did'nt change his tune. He merely amplified what he said in the first place. In other words, he pacifed you. He told you what you wanted to hear. In the end, his message is exactly what it was before he whipped off this response. If anything, this latest episode shows just how
>irrational many in the VFP community have become. Since when did it become a crime to sell one's services? For a long time now, many of us have advised folks that when upgrading their existing apps, they may want to consider SQL. What is different about this guy's message?
>
>Fact - Fox indicies do become corrupted
>Fact - As system's age - data loss and integrity becomes an issue
>Fact - Where there is a lack of doc's - data loss and integrity becomes an issue
>
>
>There is no consipiracy folks. Stop listening to the voices in your head! They make no sense whatsoever!!
>
>
>A question/issue to ponder. In this case, folks are pissed because this guy allegedly "bashed" Fox out of ignorance. How is this any different from the Fox guys who bash VB and/or SQL when they don't have the facts either? Seems like a double-standard exists. Seems like to some degree, you recieved a taste of your own medicine...
>
>
>
>
>
>>Hi All!
>>
>>In response to the letters that went out last week from IT Factory to some of us, Brian Kiser of the ProFox list wrote to David Luter of IT Factory with his concerns.
>>
>>Here is David's response, which Brian posted to ProFox and encouraged me to post here.
>>
>>
>>

---

>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: David Luter [SMTP:dluter@sbd.com]
>>> Sent: Monday, September 11, 2000 11:27 AM
>>> To: BrianE.Kiser@...
>>> Subject: Re: FoxPro
>>>
>>> Brian,
>>>
>>> Thanks very much for the feedback. I can assure you we were not trying to
>>> bash FoxPro in any way. I can also assure you that your e-mail was not
>>> the first accusing us of bashing.
>>>
>>> The fact is we got a list that was very hard to identify [and filter] roles
>>> for the purpose of our target audience. We didn't mean this letter to
>>> address developers per se. One gentleman even accused us of trying to put
>>> "hard working FoxPro developers out of business". I think we missed the
>>> mark and were mildly misunderstood. Lesson learned!! The largest part of
>>> our company [about 300 total] are Lotus Notes developers. I can imagine
>>> what their reaction would be if someone even implied that Lotus Script
>>> [roughly similar to VB] were anything but perfect. I'd have to wear a
>>> flack jacket to work!!! They are a pretty loyal group. Even having a
>>> Microsoft practice in the largest independent Lotus development
>>> organization in the world [beside IBM/Lotus] gives me chills at times.
>>> Nuf said!!!
>>>
>>> We were trying to appeal to "companies" who were running older FoxPro
>>> applications [many of which are running on a Novell network]. They often
>>> are very valuable [even critical] to the organization but are just
>>> impossible to support anymore. There are probably very few of these [on
>>> the grand scale of things in this world] but we wanted to let people know
>>> there is someone who does this as a service. I even ran the letter through the
>>> Microsoft FoxPro "guru" here in the Microsoft Mid Atlantic/DC region for
>>> feedback before sending it. Plus we had to get approval for the letter
>>> from the list owner, too.
>>>
>>> We truly didn't intend the letter to be mean-spirited. We've done this
>>> type of work for large organizations [up to $18B
>>> per year in revenues]; and small organizations [trade associations with
>>> annual revenues down to $350,000]; and medium sized organizations
>>> [currently a $90M financial services company].
>>>
>>> Thanks for taking the time to share your opinion.
>>>
>>> David Luter, MCSS
>>

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